This form of Magic Realism corresponds to Roh's ideas and the original definition of the term. Examples of this type of Magic Realism, consequently, are common in painting, where unsettling perspectives, unusual angles, or naive "toy-like" depictions of real objects produce a "magical" effect. "Magic" here is taken in the sense of conjuring, producing surprising effects by the arrangement of natural objects by means of tricks, devices or optical illusion. This approach can be observed in some of the works of Giorgio de Chirico, a painter who had the most important, direct and acknowledged influence on the German painters studied by Roh.

Together with Carlo Carrà, who would later found in Italy a movement called Realismo Magico, De Chirico established a style known as Pittura Metafisica, which was characterised by its sharp lines and contours, and by the airless and static quality and eerie atmosphere of the...